Share this
The World Soundtrack Film Composer of the Year Award is presented to the composer who is considered to have created the best body of work over the past year. The Film Composer of the Year is elected by the World Soundtrack Academy. The 2020 winner is Hildur Guðnadóttir (Joker).
Submit your score(s)
All members of the World Soundtrack Academy are invited to submit composers and songs for consideration in the categories Film Composer of the Year, Television Composer of the Year and Best Original Song. Submissions for these categories will open in April and are free of charge, but membership of the World Soundtrack Academy is required.
Who's voting
Archive
Johann Johannsson
Last and First Men, Mandy, Mary Magdalene (co-composed with Hildur Guðnadóttir), The Mercy
View nominees
| Year | Composer | Score | Nominees | Spotify |
| 2017 | Jóhannsson Jóhann | Arrival | View nominees | |
| 2016 | Burwell Carter | Carol | View nominees | |
| 2015 | Giacchino Michael | Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Inside Out, Jupiter Ascending, Jurassic World, Tomorrowland | View nominees | |
| 2014 | Desplat Alexandre | The Grand Budapest Hotel; Godzilla; The Monuments Men; Venus in Fur; Philomena; Zulu; Marius | View nominees | |
| 2013 | Danna Mychael | Life of Pi | View nominees | |
| 2012 | Iglesias Alberto | Le Moine; La Piel Que Habito; Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy | View nominees | |
| 2011 | Desplat Alexandre | A Better Life; Largo Winch II; The King’s Speech; The Tree of Life; La fille du puisatier; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part | View nominees | |
| 2010 | Desplat Alexandre | Julie & Julia; Fantastic Mr Fox; The Ghost Writer; The Twilight Saga - New Moon; Tamara Drewe | View nominees | |
| 2009 | Desplat Alexandre | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Coco avant Chanel; Largo Winch; Chéri | View nominees | |
| 2008 | Howard James Newton | Charlie Wilson's War; Michael Clayton; I Am Legend | View nominees | |
| 2007 | Desplat Alexandre | The Queen; The Painted Veil | View nominees | |
| 2006 | Iglesias Alberto | The Constant Gardener | View nominees | |
| 2005 | Badalamenti Angelo | Un Long Dimanche de Fiançailles | View nominees | |
| 2004 | Yared Gabriel | Cold Mountain | View nominees | |
| 2003 | Goldenthal Elliot | Frida | View nominees | |
| 2002 | Doyle Patrick | Gosford Park | View nominees | |
| 2001 | Williams John | Artificial Intelligence | View nominees |
The 2020 nominations for Film Composer of the Year
| Composer | Score |
| Williams John | Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker |
| Wallfisch Benjamin | It Chapter Two, The Invisible Man |
| Newman Thomas | 1917 |
| Guðnadóttir Hildur | Joker |
| Desplat Alexandre | Little Women, J’accuse, Adults in the Room |
The 2019 nominations for Film Composer of the Year
| Composer | Score |
| Wallfisch Benjamin | ‘Hellboy’; ‘Shazam!’; ‘Serenity’; ‘King of Thieves’; ‘The Vanishing’; ‘The Darkest Minds’ |
| Silvestri Alan | ‘Avengers: Endgame’; ‘Welcome to Marwen’ |
| Powell John | ‘How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World’ |
| Pemberton Daniel | ‘Yesterday’; ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’; ‘Scarborough’ |
| Britell Nicholas | ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’; ‘Vice' |
The 2018 nominations for Film Composer of the Year
| Composer | Score |
| Williams John | ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’; ‘The Post' |
| Greenwood Jonny | 'Phantom Thread' |
| Desplat Alexandre | ‘Endangered Species’; ‘Isle of Dogs’; ‘Suburbicon’; ‘The Shape of Water’; ‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets' |
| Burwell Carter | 'Goodbye Christopher Robin’; ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri' |
| Jóhannsson Jóhann | Last and First Men, Mandy, Mary Magdalene (co-composed with Hildur Guðnadóttir), The Mercy |
The 2017 nominations for Film Composer of the Year
| Composer | Score |
| O'Halloran Dustin | Lion, In the Shadow of Iris |
| Levi Mica | Jackie, Marjorie Prime |
| Jóhannsson Jóhann | Arrival |
| Hurwitz Justin | La La Land |
| Britell Nicholas | Moonlight |
The 2016 nominations for Film Composer of the Year
| Composer | Score |
| Burwell Carter | Carol |
| Pemberton Daniel | Steve Jobs, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. |
| Williams John | Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The BFG |
| Newman Thomas | Bridge of Spies, Finding Dory, Spectre |
| Morricone Ennio | En mai, fais ce qu'il plaît (Come What May), La Corrispondenza, The Hateful Eight |
The 2015 nominations for Film Composer of the Year
| Composer | Score |
| Zimmer Hans | Interstellar, Chappie |
| Jóhannsson Jóhann | The Theory of Everything, The 11th Hour, Sicario |
| Giacchino Michael | Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Inside Out, Jupiter Ascending, Jurassic World, Tomorrowland |
| Desplat Alexandre | Unbroken, The Imitation Game, Everything Will Be Fine, Tale of Tales |
| Coulais Bruno | Song of the Sea, Gemma Bovery, 3 hearts (3 Coeurs), Mune le guardien de la lune, Diary of a Chambermaid (Journal d'une femme de chambre), Fly Away Solo |
The 2014 nominations for Film Composer of the Year
| Composer | Score |
| Zimmer Hans | 12 years A Slave;Man Of Steel;Rush;The Lone Ranger |
| Yared Gabriel | A Promise; In Secret; Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet; Tom à la Ferme |
| Desplat Alexandre | The Grand Budapest Hotel; Godzilla; The Monuments Men; Venus in Fur; Philomena; Zulu; Marius |
| Beltrami Marco | A Good Day To Die Hard; Carrie; The Homesman; Snowpiercer; Warm Bodies; The Wolverine; World War Z |
| Steven Price | Gravity; The World's End |
The 2013 nominations for Film Composer of the Year
| Composer | Score |
| Danna Mychael | Life of Pi |
| Newman Thomas | Side Effects |
| Howard James Newton | After Earth; The Bourne Legacy |
| Elfman Danny | Epic; Frankenweenie; Hitchcock; Oz the Great and Powerful; Promised Land; Silver Linings Playbook |
| Desplat Alexandre | Argo; Reality; Renoir; Rise of the Guardians; Zero Dark Thirty |
The 2012 nominations for Film Composer of the Year
| Composer | Score |
| Williams John | The Adventures of Tintin, War Horse |
| Shore Howard | A Dangerous Method, Cosmopolis, Hugo |
| Martinez Cliff | Contagion, Drive |
| Desplat Alexandre | A Better Life, Carnage, De Rouille Et d'Os, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Moonrise Kingdom, The Ides Of March |
| Iglesias Alberto | Le Moine; La Piel Que Habito; Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy |
The 2011 nominations for Film Composer of the Year
| Composer | Score |
| Doyle Patrick | La Ligne Droite, Thor, Jig |
| Powell John | Mars Needs Moms, Rio, Kung Fu Panda 2 |
| Mansell Clint | Black Swan, Faster, Last Night |
| Zimmer Hans | Inception, How Do You Know, Megamind, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Dilemma, Rango, Kung Fu Panda 2 |
| Desplat Alexandre | A Better Life; Largo Winch II; The King’s Speech; The Tree of Life; La fille du puisatier; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part |
The 2010 nominations for Film Composer of the Year
| Composer | Score |
| Burwell Carter | The Blind Side, A Serious Man, Where the Wild Things Are, Howl, The Kids Are All Right |
| Powell John | Green Zone, How To Train Your Dragon, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Knight & Day |
| Elfman Danny | Alice in Wonderland, The Wolfman |
| Zimmer Hans | Sherlock Holmes, It's Complicated |
| Desplat Alexandre | Julie & Julia; Fantastic Mr Fox; The Ghost Writer; The Twilight Saga - New Moon; Tamara Drewe |
The 2009 nominations for Film Composer of the Year
| Composer | Score |
| Zimmer Hans | Frost/Nixon, Angels & Demons, The Dark Knight |
| Giacchino Michael | Star Trek, Up, Land of the Lost |
| Elfman Danny | Milk, Taking Woodstock, Notorious |
| Burwell Carter | Burn After Reading, Twilight |
| Desplat Alexandre | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Coco avant Chanel; Largo Winch; Chéri |
The 2008 nominations for Film Composer of the Year
| Composer | Score |
| Powell John | The Bourne Ultimatum |
| Marianelli Dario | Atonement |
| Iglesias Alberto | The Kite Runner |
| Desplat Alexandre | The Golden Compass |
| Howard James Newton | Charlie Wilson's War; Michael Clayton; I Am Legend |
The 2007 nominations for Film Composer of the Year
| Composer | Score |
| Powell John | Happy Feet |
| Gregson-Williams Harry | Déjà Vu, Shrek the Third, The Number 23, Flushed Away |
| Glass Philip | Notes on a Scandal |
| Danna Mychael | Little Miss Sunshine, Breach, The Nativity Story, Fracture |
| Desplat Alexandre | The Queen; The Painted Veil |
The 2006 nominations for Film Composer of the Year
| Composer | Score |
| Powell John | Ice Age: The Meltdown |
| Howard James Newton | King Kong |
| Marianelli Dario | Pride & Prejudice |
| Iglesias Alberto | The Constant Gardener |
The 2005 nominations for Film Composer of the Year
| Composer | Score |
| Powell John | The Bourne Supremacy |
| Williams John | War of the Worlds |
| Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events | |
| Shore Howard | The Aviator |
| Badalamenti Angelo | Un Long Dimanche de Fiançailles |
The 2004 nominations for Film Composer of the Year
| Composer | Score |
| Yared Gabriel | Cold Mountain |
The 2003 nominations for Film Composer of the Year
| Composer | Score |
| Goldenthal Elliot | Frida |
The 2002 nominations for Film Composer of the Year
| Composer | Score |
| Doyle Patrick | Gosford Park |
The 2001 nominations for Film Composer of the Year
| Composer | Score |
| Williams John | Artificial Intelligence |